Dental practice should have considered whether to waive time limit for complaint

What happened

In early 2014 Mr L wrote to the practice and said that a crown that it had fitted in 2005 had fallen out and been lost. Mr L complained that the crown had never fitted properly and asked the practice to fund the cost of a replacement.

The practice replied less than a week later. It said that, because the events had taken place more than a year before, it would not investigate the complaint.

What we found

The practice was right to state that Mr L had made his complaint outside the time limit. However, in line with the relevant regulations, it should have considered Mr L's reasons for the delay and whether it would still be possible to investigate the complaint thoroughly and fairly. The practice was at fault for failing to do this.

However, we decided that the overall decision would have been the same, even if the practice had considered the complaint properly. This was because we could not find a persuasive reason why Mr L delayed making the complaint, and because we did not consider that there would be enough evidence to investigate the complaint fairly.

Putting it right

We did not make any formal recommendations. However, we said that the practice should note the shortcoming we identified. Furthermore, we suggested that it should review its complaints policy to make sure that it complies with the complaint regulations about 'out of time' complaints, and whether it should consider waiving the time limit if appropriate.